Reverse
by Nautica7mk
Summary: A tragedy in the future forces Superman to travel to the past using any means necessary.
1. Part 1 of 2

**Title**: Reverse 1/2

**Author**: Nadia Mack

**Spoilers**: Spoilers up to "Blank"

**Disclaimer**: I Own Nothing

**Summary**: A tragedy in the future forces Superman to travel to the past using any means necessary.

**Author's Notes**: This is a two-part story.

_Metropolis 2017_

"I have to do this"

"Clark, be rational!" Bruce urged to his longtime friend and confidant.

"I have to go after him, if I don't, he'll never stop killing innocent people. I can't just stand by and do NOTHING"

Just then, another voice broke into their conversation. "Bruce is right, Kal-El, it's much too dangerous," Diana also known as Wonder Woman and Princess of the Amazons said in agreement with Bruce.

"I know how you feel, but this is reckless planning, Clark, you know that," Bruce desperately tried to get through his friend.

"I don't care," he replied emotionally.

"Kal-El, please, let us help"

"No!" He pulled away from them and flew off in light speed. Wonder Woman may be able to fly, but she can't fly as fast as him.

She turned to Bruce. "We've got to stop him"

"And how do you suppose we do that, Diana?"

"Are you saying we should give up on him, then?"

"He's hurting. Nothing we do or say is going to make it stop"

"Then we just let him fall apart," she hoped that she misinterpreted Bruce wrong. "Tell me what he wants, and we'll get it for him"

"He wants his wife"

As soon as it left his lips, Diana knew that it was the one request she couldn't give.

_Smallville 2005_

Looking into the mirror, he stared astonishingly at the image he saw in front of him. It worked, the incantation actually worked. In all his experience, he has never been fond of magic, but when the situation called for it, he knew what he had to do.

"Clark!" A familiar voice yelled out from outside the bathroom door. "You're going to be late for school!" The voice continued on.

When he realized who it was, "I'll be right there, mom!" he responded back.

Clark looked at himself in the mirror once more. In his mind, he's in his late twenties, but at his present situation, he was seventeen. Could things get anymore complicated?

And then…

His ears became attuned to a familiar sound.

His rhythm…

As his eyes widened at the implication, he rushed to exit the bathroom only to nearly collide with the one person he wasn't prepared to see.

"For God's sake, Clark, it's the bathroom not a track field," she quipped out loud, nearly tumbling backwards from the farm boy's sudden exit.

"I, um…" his words failed to form a coherent sentence. "Sorry," he finally says, head bowed down. Clark wasn't ready to look her in the eye.

"Clark," she spoke in concern. Her voice calmed him down like the smooth waves of an ocean after a thunderstorm. "You okay?"

He snapped out of the moment.

"What?"

"Are you okay?" she says again, this time, more softly.

Once Clark looked up at her, eye to eye, all control and caution was gone and he reached out to engulf her in an embrace that was anything but friendly.

Lois stood in his arms dumbfounded. She didn't know how to react.

"Are you possessed?"

She heard him chuckle, and for a brief moment, she did as well. But when Clark didn't let her go, she began to worry.

"Clark," she tried to get a word out. "Umm… not that I don't appreciate this moment of bonding and all but…" she patted his back a couple of times. "You need to let me go now"

She felt his head shake to answer otherwise.

Lois had to roll her eyes, and then she squeezed her hands in between their bodies so she could put it in front of his chest so as to gently push him away.

And when he reluctantly let her go, he cast his eyes downwards yet again and shoving his hands in his pants pocket.

"I know I've been living here with you and your family for a few months now, but did something happen?" Lois and Clark don't normally just give each other hugs unless it was due to some kind of dire situation, like possession for an example.

Clark remained silent, and whatever it is that he couldn't quite say in words, Lois simply nodded and put aside for now. He looked like hell.

"You should get downstairs, your mom's been screaming for you all morning"

Clark was relieved that Lois didn't pursue is out-of-character behavior any further. If only she knew how in-character it was for him.

"Thanks," he answered weakly.

They parted on awkward terms, but Lois didn't show it much. Clark on the other hand was reeling over who he had just seen and what he had just done. He couldn't help himself; he glanced at her several times till she was physically out of his view. Clark had to will more himself not to see through those walls separating him from the love of his life.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, he is greeted by a very happy Shelby.

For the first time since he came to, he took his attention away from Lois and focused on the mutt tugging at his leg. "Hey, Shelby, how's it going, boy?" Clark kneeled and ruffled the canine's face when suddenly he found himself subconsciously catching a glimpse of his wife… no, future wife as she made her way down the stairs and into the living room.

"Sweetie," another voice broke off his thoughts.

Turning to see his mom by the fridge, "Morning mom," Clark says great to see his mom. She still lives in his future, but all the same, it was good to see her.

"I'm glad you're finally up"

He looked at his mom keenly so he didn't have to look at Lois "Where's dad?"

"He went to the store early"

Clark noticed his mother was dressed. "Where are you going?"

"I'm meeting an old girlfriend from college; she's in town for the weekend. I'll be back before dinner," she kissed him on the cheek and headed out the door leaving Clark and Lois alone.

Clark kept gazing at his mother even though she had gone out of view.

"What did I say about uncomfortable silences?" Lois broke through from the still quiet air.

"That you're uncomfortable with them," he answered without turning his back to her.

"Exactly! So, you mind telling me what's bothering you"

"What makes you think something is bothering me?" She had always had a way at figuring him out, even at this age.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "Your impromptu gesture a few minutes ago is clear evidence that something's wrong"

He finally faced her. "I don't need a reason to hug you Lois," he defended. He'd forgotten how very different they were when they were younger, but then he suddenly mentally scorned himself for the slip.

Lois shifted uncomfortably. It was an answer she wasn't expecting. Actually, she was expecting some lame attempt at some form of explanation, but what she got was a simple honest-to-God direct answer.

Reaching for her jacket, "Gotta get to work," and rushed out of the house.

Instinctively, Clark reached for his own but halfway to the door he realized that work wasn't The Daily Planet. He mournfully watched Lois climb into her car and drive away, getting only a smile as a form of 'see ya later.'

It was at that point Clark realized the predicament he placed himself in. He had no real plan of action. Not even a back-up plan. He was in the past for one reason and one reason only, to ensure Lois, his wife, was safe.

To him, that was enough.

"Clark," someone says. He turned to see a younger looking Chloe Sullivan walking towards him. "I see you've finally got some peace and quiet around here," she mused at the situation her two bestest friends got themselves in.

"Hi Chloe," he greeted in return. He searched his mind and tried to recall everything that had happened during this part of his life.

Remembering one of the most crucial:

Chloe knew of his abilities.

As they two stood silently before each other, it was he who broke the silence. "Thank you for everything you've done for me"

His words caught her off guard.

"What do you mean everything?"

Clark knew he needed an ally, and next to his parents and Lois, it was Chloe Sullivan he trusted just as much. "I know you know I'm different," he further explained.

Chloe took a couple more steps up the stairs until she was just in front of him.

"I…"

"It's okay, I'm grateful you kept it to yourself, even though I'm sure you were angry with me for never telling you." He knew he was using his memories of the future to help him get through it in the past, but what other choice did he have?

"I didn't want you to feel obligated to tell me," says Chloe finally finding her voice.

"I wasn't. Not now or ever," he assured her, catching her exhale the breath she was holding.

"I'm glad that I don't have to pretend with you anymore. It was getting a little exhausting," she admitted with a rue smile.

He tried to smile at her but there was just too many thoughts running through his head, he could barely focus. Instead, he closed his eyes and focused his hearing to the familiar heart beat of Lois Lane. It was about the only thing keeping him sane.

"Are you listening in on someone?" Chloe interrupted with hesitancy. It's all finally out in the open, but she didn't want to appear pushy.

"No…" he paused opening his one eye to her and then both. "Yes," he admitted.

"Let me guess," insisted Chloe. "Does that someone have the initials L.L?"

"How'd you…"

"Come on, Clark. It wasn't hard to figure out; you've been in love with Lana forever now"

Clark tried not to burst in surprise laughter. "You thought I was listening in on Lana Lang?"

Chloe quirked an eyebrow in his direction with deep puzzlement, "Aren't you?"

He shook his head.

"No"

"You're not?" Chloe couldn't believe Clark Kent just admitted that he wasn't in some way trying to connect with his childhood crush. When she thought of another person with the same initials, she pulled back a face and stared at him oddly, "Lex Lu…"

"No!" Clark chuckled, but then the smile faded when he saw Chloe's face flush with sadness. She knew now too.

Chloe faked her amusement. "Two down, only one other person who fits that description left," she described weakly. "I don't know why I'm even asking, but when? I mean, just yesterday, you couldn't stand one another, and now, you're standing here listening in on her"

"I'm not listening in on her"

"Oh yeah, then what the hell were you doing?" She questioned angrily.

"I could be a thousand miles away and I can hear her," he revealed, garnering a look of amazement that shifted away from jealousy across Chloe's features. He continued, "I'm not spying on her, Chloe. I'm simply listening to her heart"

"Her heart… you mean her heart beat?" She sorely didn't get it.

"It's kind of my rhythm." He was having a hard time explaining it. The only other person who understood his connection to Lois on that level was his friend Bruce.

"You're rhythm? Clark, you and Lois aren't even together," she says completely baffled at Clark's actions.

"Not yet"

Again, Chloe looked at him in great surprise.

"Whoa, wait a second. What do you mean, yet? Clark, what's going on?"

Taking a deep breath, Clark prepares himself for the impossible. "What if I told you I wasn't the Clark Kent you knew for the past 5 years? What if I told you that my future self came back taking the form of his teenage self? What would you say? How would you react?"

Chloe was speechless.

"Are you telling me that I'm talking to Clark Kent from the future?"

"Yes"

Skeptical, "I trust you, Clark, but so many things happen here in Smallville that can easily distort fact and fiction, that…"

Clark cut her off. "Ask me anything about Lois, Chloe. Things she made you swear not to tell anybody," he challenged. Clark didn't have time to be tiptoeing around and thought best to just get on with it. "I know them all, Chlo. I know Lois better than she knows herself. She's a part of me, she CAN'T NOT be"

Of all the years she had known him, she has never heard Clark talk so openly and so emotionally about anyone, not even about Lana, the high school sweetheart she was convinced Clark would never grow out of.

Clark just had to prove her wrong… again.

So it what he was saying is true, that he really is from the future… a sudden feeling of dread fills her stomach.

"Something happens to her, doesn't it? You wouldn't have come back here if that wasn't the case"

Clark looked out in the fields of the Kent Farm, his eyes glistening with tears. Chloe's question was answered.

"Can I ask what happened?"

"No"

Chloe understood, and a part of her was relieved he didn't answer her. Despite the huge surprise, Lois has and always been the one true constant in her life, the one person she could always rely on, and the only other person who loved her unconditionally. If something bad really did happen, and everything her best friend had told her is true, she has to have faith that there's a way to beat whatever speed bump she got into.

"What are we going to do now?"

Clark noted Chloe's use of 'we' and was utterly thankful he has her in his side.

"I haven't quite figured that part of the plan yet"

Chloe just stared at him with an open jaw.

"You don't have a plan?" she yelled out. "What the hell were you thinking time hoppin like that?" She slapped him on the shoulder to emphasize his stupidity. "How the heck did you pull it off anyhow?"

"I know, all right. I just need to think and I'll figure it out." Clark put himself several feet apart from Chloe to explain. "Magic, I used magic to come back here"

"Magic?" Things were going from weird to crazy. "Come on, Clark, I need something more than that?"

At this point, he realized that even though she knows about his abilities, she had no clue of his true origins. Things were going to be even more complicated.

"Just trust me when I say that it's true"

"I don't know, Clark," she replied skeptically. "I barely know anything and the things that you've told me… it's pretty hard to swallow"

"I know, and I'm sorry you found out this way"

"I think the batteries in my brain have fried." She walked further into the porch and sat on the bench in hopes she could comprehend everything that she just learned. It was a long shot, but she had to give it a try. "And don't be, Clark." She thought back to her older cousin. "I'm happy that it's Lois," she softly admitted, even if she had a hard time picturing the two together.

This time, it was Clark that looked at her with surprise. "You are?" He knew she was okay with it in his future, but he didn't think it would be that easy to pass in this particular period of their lives.

He and Lois don't get together for another year and a half, the half being spent by both ignoring and denying that there was something there.

She rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine, I'm a little hurt, but I'll get over it. I can't exactly be mad at my cousin right now, especially when she thinks so little of herself"

Clark's mouth turns into a grin. "That'll pass"

Chloe smiled despite the gravity of the situation.

The two walked towards the barn, the place where Clark found solace in growing up, they stopped as Chloe wondrously thought up questions to ask.

"So…" Chloe began. "What's she like now, in the future I mean?" She had been dying to know.

Clark stopped to smile as he went into his memory and recalled every detail of her into one word.

"Perfect"

"That great, huh?" Chloe's mind went into overdrive. This Clark has love written all over his face when talking about her cousin.

"She has this air about her," he began to explain. "A confidence and compassion and so many other things rolled into one, some times I wonder if I could be dreaming"

"You really love her, don't you?" She regretted the question once she saw Clark's face turn into sadness. Whatever happened in the future that would make Clark go all the way to the past, in a time that would probably rank as the lesser happy years of his life, must truly be bad. She's always seen him strong, even when things went sour with Alicia Baker; he always managed to bring his feet back up.

Now, he looked so much like a lost little boy.

A thought came to, and she knew it would be the craziest idea.

"Maybe we should let Lois in on this?"

"No!" he immediately reacted, the tone in his voice throwing Chloe back a little.

"What! Why not?" She argued. "It seems like it's her life on the line. Maybe if she knew, she could prepare herself"

"I'm not going to burden her with the future like that. I won't. Chloe, you don't understand, I didn't just come back here to watch over her, I came back here to stop the man that…" He stopped when he realized how much he was about to reveal.

"What, Clark? Tell me, I'm her family, I deserve to know," she cried out.

"No, Chloe! I can't!"

"Why not?" She bellowed out.

"Because I'm her husband!"

Chloe put a hand to cover her mouth. "Oh my god," she whispered, reminiscent of the first time she saw Clark use his powers. "You married Lois"

Clark remained quiet. It's all out in the open now.

"You married LOIS! You and Lois are married!" She exclaimed.

Clark sighed. "I heard you the first two times, Chloe"

Chloe couldn't help but chuckle a little. "I'm kind of dying to know how in the world that happened," she commented, not realizing what her words meant to Clark. Chloe's journalistic instincts kicked in and tragically put two and two together.

Shaking in disbelief. "No… no… " her eyes begins to water with tears. "Tell me she's okay. Tell me she's going to be okay, Clark… tell me please," she pleaded shakily as Clark looked on breaking inside. He had to stay strong, if not for himself, but for the future. "Tell ME!" he heard her yell at him. "No, no… don't, I don't want to know," she stifled.

"Chloe," he started in a low whisper. He watched her crumple from his silence, and he opened his mouth to explain but…

"What's going on here?" Someone says climbing up the stairs.

Clark is unprepared and Chloe quickly turned to wipe the tears in her eyes.

"Hey!" The head of Lois Lane crept up from the staircase, and in a matter of a few steps, her whole body appeared. "Chloe?" She saw her little cousin stifling a cry and instinctively, she runs up to console her. "Are you okay?" She rubbed her back gently in an attempt to get her to relax.

Lois turns towards Clark, if she had heat vision, he could swear her eyes would be blaring red right now. She was probably wondering what he had done to Chloe this time?

"What happened?" she asked him hoarsely.

Clark cringed at the voice. If she only knew…

"Oh, it's nothing," Chloe chimed in and pulled her cousin into a hug. Though not as weirded out by the gesture as she was when Clark had done it, Lois still found it a bit odd that she was holding on so tight and long.

"Shh… hey, it's going to be all right," Lois responded in a soft soothing voice. She felt Chloe tighten her grip around her. "Uh… cuz, I love you but could you please tell me what's going on?"

"I'm sorry," Chloe let her go and sniffed. "I just…" Another look towards Lois's way and she found herself launching into another hug, much to her cousin's growing confusion. She looked at Clark and mouthed a 'what's wrong with her?'

Clark kept his sadness at bay at the emotional scene and shrugged with a silent 'I don't know.' Lois rolled her eyes at him as she gently pulled away from Chloe.

"Are you okay now?"

Chloe nodded her head, looking so childlike and innocent that it made Lois recall memories of them when they were just small kids.

"I thought you went to work?" Clark found himself intruding, he needed to keep those two apart for at least a few days, but that was an idea that was next to impossible.

Chloe finally let go of Lois. Lois turns to Clark with a questioning look, but no questions came out of her mouth. "I left something in the house and I saw Chloe's car." She looked at Chloe once more. "You want me to stay?" she asked her genuinely.

Chloe looked at her gratefully but then saw Clark shake his head behind her.

"No, no, it's all right. I've just had a lot on my mind…" Lois wasn't getting her point, so Chloe thought up the best legitimate lie she could. "You know, with high school ending, and all of us going our separate ways"

Clark silently thanked her.

"You sure?" Lois understood that, but she couldn't help but feel there was a lot more to it.

"Very sure"

"Okay," she replied reluctantly.

Chloe gives her a hug one more time, but soon realized she was making it worse for herself so she gives off some lame excuse about doing errands for the newspaper, leaving Lois and Clark alone, again.

Chloe whispered 'sorry' because she knew Clark could hear her. He needed a game plan, so who else to help him if not for the woman that's stolen his heart.

Clark couldn't believe that Chloe just left him with Lois. She should know he was having a hard time seeing her as it was.

Lois approaches Clark cautiously. "Okay, this morning was weird, but what happened just now was downright off," she claimed. "Clark, seriously, what's going on? What is wrong with you two?"

Clark thought fast. "Shouldn't you be headed to work?" he asks walking right past her.

Lois doesn't waver. "My shift doesn't start for another half hour, so spill Smallville"

"I don't know what you're talking about." God she was always so persistent, and she doesn't grow out of it either.

He does his best not to look at her, but as Lois gripped his forearm, he had one of two choices. Face his greatest weakness or run fast out of there and risk revealing his secret to her sooner than it was suppose to. Naturally, he chose the former.

"Lois, please," he pleaded with her.

"What?" She says exasperated. "I don't know what's gotten into you but…" Lois was cut off as Clark's lips touched hers with such passion. After a moment of surprise distraction, Lois pushed Clark off of her.

"What the hell was that?" she tells him in disbelief.

"I'm sorry… I." Clark really wasn't, but he couldn't exactly tell her that. "I don't know what came over me," he lied.

"You don't…" A headache suddenly hit her. "You just kissed me, you realize that don't you?"

Clark nodded sheepishly. "You kissed me back," he argued without thinking. That was a bad move.

"Oh, you can't be that arrogant." She points a finger at him. "Don't you dare blame this on me. You're the one bringing out your inner testosterone"

Clark couldn't take it anymore and shut her up by pulling her in for another kiss. One, to get her to stop talking and two, because he's wanted to since the first time he kissed her seconds ago.

Lois made a valiant attempt to pull away, but she found herself returning his advances much to even her dismay.

"This is… so wrong," she mumbled into his kiss.

Clark moaned in satisfaction, intimate memories that happened between them in his future threatening to push him further into his desire to be with her. He's missed her so much and all he wanted was to hold onto her.

For Lois, her mind was traveling in all different directions. Clark's actions were aggressive and downright bold, yet he handled her with such gentleness and swift caress, her mind could barely contemplate the minutes passed as they tore into each other with each kiss.

"Whoa!" Lois pushed him away again, catching her breath.

Clark had done the same thing.

"I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" was Clark's immediate answer.

Lois couldn't believe what she was hearing. Clark didn't look unnerved at all about what just happened. Was it not just a few days ago where he lost his memory and went all gooey-eyed towards his long-time crush? Where did this sudden burst of attraction come from on his part?

"I'm fine," she replied breathlessly, the taste of Clark Kent's lips still lingered on her lips. She forced her head into focus. "I'm gonna go to work," she added hesitantly. "When I get back, you and I are gonna have a nice little chat, maybe then you'd have some time to contemplate the meaning of life and explain to me what the hell just happened here just now because I sure as hell don't"

"Lois…" he wanted to close the gap between them but knew he couldn't. He'd taken a big risk already.

"I'm going to go now." Lois straightened her self out and headed back towards the stairs of the barn. She takes one last look at Clark, noting the changes in his usually stoic features. He seemed different; yet still the Clark Kent she had gotten to know for the last year.

And then, she left without a word, leaving Clark in his own thoughts.

_He wasn't going to lose her, he won't. He'll die trying first._

**To be continued…**


	2. Part 2 of 2

**Title**: Reverse 2/2

**Author**: Nadia Mack

**Disclaimer**: I Own Nothing

**Author's Note**: Whew! Yay, I finally completed this thing. It's about time, if I say so myself. Feedback is welcome. Thanks everyone who has reviewed.

"_In life, what sometimes appears to be the end is really a beginning."_

Previously on _Reverse_…

Clark uses magic to travel back in time, taking him from 2017 Metropolis to 2005 Smallville, Kansas. With the help of his childhood friend Chloe Sullivan and an unsuspecting Lois Lane, he struggles to set things right for the future he is desperate to save.

And now, _Reverse _continues…

One hour became two. Then three. Four. Before Clark knew it, he could hear her footsteps ascend the wooden stairs leading up to his loft as clear as if someone had a trumpet blown right to his ear.

She had said that they would talk, and so he counted the minutes she would arrive home. All three hundred and seventy nine minutes since she's been gone.

As awkward as the day has become, one thing he knew for sure.

Lois never disappoints.

"Small… Clark?"

Clark grimaced at the hesitated use of his real name. He has grown much more accustomed to his many sobriquets she's given him over the years; he really was at a lost as to what to do.

"I'm here," he answered robotically.

"Hey," she greeted politely. Lois walked slowly towards his silent form, handing him an espresso.

Clark smiled warmly at the gesture, but he made no move to show it to her.

"Thanks"

Lois moved back and timidly crossed her arms to her chest, unsure herself how to proceed. In her mind, she had it all worked out… do the job, come home and get an explanation. Now that she was there, in front of him, she wasn't so certain.

He looked torn, sad even like he was having some epic internal battle inside himself. She could almost see it in his eyes, but she laughed inwardly, she wouldn't know because he has yet to look at her.

So Lois took the initiative and asked what's been bothering her all morning.

"What's wrong Clark?" Her voice was soft and full of consideration. Lois had no intention of berating him until she understood at least some of what is going on. Last thing she wants is for moody-eyed farmboy to become, well, moody, depressed and all the colors of a misbegotten rainbow that comes with it.

"Has there ever been a moment in your life that was absolutely perfect…" he began to speak, his back still to her. "When everything you thought wasn't possible is?"

Lois didn't know where he was going with his inquiry, but she played along.

"No, not really," she replied honestly.

A weak smile graced across Clark's lips and he finally turned to face her.

"I do"

She was leery of Clark; there was something suddenly impeccably different behind his easily read eyes, even in his voice there was a change. It felt like she was talking to an entirely different person, the same yet clearly very different.

"What does that have to do with what happened this morning?" She swerved the conversation back on track, images of kissing and out-of-place expressions surfacing hurriedly to her mind.

"Everything," he says simply.

Lois shook her head, perplexed. She still had no clue where he was going with this.

"You're losing me," she commented offhandedly.

Clark flinched, his memory of her in his own time creeping into his consciousness.

"You have no idea," his face an expression of sad.

Lois didn't know how she should feel; their exchange is leaving her with more questions than answers. So what exactly is she feeling right about now?

Aggravated? Very.

Upset? That's a given.

Confused? So very much so.

"You've got to elaborate here more, Smallville," she explained. Then she ended it with a quip. "You're not making any sense to me, not that it's unusual."

"I wish I could"

"Then tell me," she urged, her resolve quickly draining. "I'm not asking you to tell me everything. I want to know why in the last 24 hours, things have suddenly changed between us – Or, if we really want to be specific, which I do… what's changed with you?"

His voice broke. "I can't…" and he turns back around, avoiding her stare.

This time, for that moment he allowed her to see, Lois saw through his eyes, he really did want to tell her. So why can't he?

Then he began to shake, and she immediately knew that he was crying. She could hear the soft sobs he desperately tried not to share and though everything is telling her to pursue the matter, she made the decision right then and there to drop it for the time being.

Lois awkwardly stepped closer to him, putting a hand to his shoulder in hopes to reassure him that she didn't hate him, or that the world wasn't out to get him. She felt him tremble further and his sobs getting louder, but not enough that anyone but her can hear.

She knelt down, her eyes meeting just below his. "It's gonna be okay," she tries to comfort, even though she had no idea why she was doing it.

He watched her in his tear-strained eyes that he refused to wipe away.

"I'm sorry," he says softly.

"What?" she exclaimed, wondering why he was sorry. "No, don't, okay." She found herself tightening her grip on his shoulder before she could even question why it had done that. Clark sunk to her embrace, sinking into her chest with quiet sobs that wouldn't go away.

"I'm sorry," he held onto her.

Lois was lost as much as he was. Not to mention still very confused.

After a few minutes of silent comfort, Clark managed to calm down. Stillness hung in the air between them but Clark was content to remain as is. Unfortunately, his better half wasn't thinking along the same lines and slowly, but carefully, she moved away.

"Why don't we call it a day?" Lois presented. Whatever Clark was going through, she knew badgering him about it won't get either of them anywhere.

Clark reluctantly nods.

"Do you have to go?" Clark asks in a childlike fashion.

Lois eyed him curiously, wondering what it is that is making Clark Kent grow more attached to her. What did she miss?

Standing dumbfounded in front of him, she went back through her memory banks and recalled as best she could every memory. Every word exchanged. Every glance they shared.

Nothing… there was nothing she could recall that would account to his sudden change of… feelings, if that was in fact what it really were.

There's an unspoken understanding between them, a friendship that though not often verbalized, is very much present.

So she stayed.

She didn't quite know how long they sat there. She watched him fall asleep just barely out of the afternoon, but she remained by his side. Watching… wondering… Just as another thought was breaking into her mind, she hears a car pulling over.

Lois got up, careful not to wake Clark and tip-toed out of the loft and down the stairs. Walking out, she caught sight of her cousin, exiting her car.

"Lois!"

"Shh!" Lois says, her forefinger in front of her mouth, signaling to her younger cousin not to speak so loud.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, its Clark. He's upstairs sleeping; I don't want to wake him"

Chloe looked at her oddly. How much did she know? Did Clark change his mind and went ahead and told her?

"Did something happen?" Chloe immediately became concerned, all the while suspicious.

Lois shrugged. "I have _no_ idea"

"Huh," Chloe responded flabbergasted.

"I really don't know what's going on, Chlo." She takes her cousin's hand and began leading her to the house. "Ever since this morning, Clark's been acting a bit more weird than usual," she revealed in a whisper.

Chloe's face contorted to sadness, her cousin was still in the dark and sighed in relief that she didn't catch her reaction.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know, Chloe, he won't say." There was a pause between them for a moment before Lois continued. "He hugged me," she admitted.

Chloe's face remained indifferent and that made Lois worry. She began to confess everything, and it wasn't even her fault.

"And he kissed me," Lois added, then bracing herself for the eventual repercussions. When none came, she continued. "And I kissed him back. Reluctantly! But it happened only for a second!" she spitted out quickly.

If Chloe hadn't known the entire situation, she would've been angry, possibly even betrayed, but she knew that wasn't the case, and she knew how confused her older cousin have become since future Clark's magical jump to the past.

Chloe wished she could tell her, she wanted to tell her, but she knew it wasn't her place to.

"Is that all that happened?"

Lois gawked at her. "What – what else would you expect happened?"

"So you guys just kissed?"

Lois's eyes shifted away from her cousin and looked at the horizon setting.

"Yeah"

"For how long?"

Lois frowned. "Does that matter?"

"I'm kinda curious"

Lois sighs. "What the hell is wrong with you, Chlo?" Clark and Chloe's incredibly odd behaviors as of late are really bothering her. "You're the one who's hung up on him, not me!" she argued, her mind going a mile a minute.

"So are you telling me you don't find Clark the least bit attractive?" she continued to fish. How can these two be together let alone married when she's being this stubborn? Clark must've done a miracle.

She's had a few hours to think it over, and the more she did, the easier it was to let him go and move on. Perhaps it also had to do with the idea of the two most important people in her lives finding love in one another, either way she wasn't quite sure.

"I'm your cousin not blind," she shot back, a little annoyed at the peculiar interrogation.

Chloe grins.

"Seriously, though…" Lois went back to the topic at hand. "This morning with all the hugging and the crying. I know you said it was about high school but I can't help but feel there's something else"

Chloe tries to get a word in until she catches a glimpse of Clark looking down on them from his loft window.

"It's nothing Lois. Just one of those days," she lied to her. And she hates lying to her.

Meanwhile, in the distance, a shadowy figure loomed. He watched and observed. Waiting. Calculating the best and most successful way in fulfilling his mission.

_Metropolis, 2017 (One Week Before)_

"I'm giving you a rare opportunity Mr. Gog"

"And what opportunity is that?"

"To destroy a common enemy." A pause. "Superman"

Gog isn't impressed. "Many have tried and failed," he scoffs. "What makes your offer any different?"

"Because Mr. Gog," he begins with great confidence. "I know his weaknesses." He drops a newspaper in front of him with a picture of a woman circled in deep red ink. "Her name is Lois Lane, a reporter for the Daily Planet. You might've heard of her. Won a couple of Pulitzer's, several Kerth's…"

"Why should I care about this woman?"

"She isn't just Lois Lane. She's Lois Lane Kent." Off Gog's confusion, he continued. "Clark Kent's wife. Clark Kent who also happens to be Superman, an alien disguised as a terran," he reveals with an evil smile.

Gog is a bit alarmed, but then sadistically hopeful.

"He dares to imitate the human race! Live as Them! Love as them!" he spat out angrily, feelings full of hate and vengeance exuded in every word. Gog takes the photo off the table. "You want me to kill her"

"Yes"

"Why? He'll just come after us," his anger subsides but only a little, and he attempts to rationalize the situation.

"You don't know him as well as I do, Mr. Gog. Superman doesn't have many known weaknesses… except her. Once I discovered his identity, it all fell into place."

"What shall you have me do?"

"I've found the perfect time to make your attack against Miss Lane. 2005. Smallville, Kansas." It was the perfect time. Going over as much history as he could, he has discovered that she is never alone. Whether with her father General Lane, or traveling the world with professionals on a news story, there was barely a time where the teenage Lois would sit and stay put. Any time but now is as good a time to make their move.

Gog's eyes go wide. "You want me to travel back in time?"

He nods. "You want to bring Superman to his knees, don't you? You've traveled through time. You're a master at it. Killing Superman won't be enough. He should be made to suffer first"

"How can a mere human carry that much power over Superman?" he asked reasonably.

"Because… Lois Lane is the key to Superman's humanity. You eliminate Lois Lane, we eliminate any chance of Clark Kent ever fulfilling his destiny."

Gog finally understands.

"Superman," they both say together.

Before Gog leaves, he is called to once more.

"Don't forget this." He tossed the lead box onto his hands. He opened it and took out a green crystal.

"What's this?"

"Reinforcements," he smirked.

_Smallville, 2005_

In the loft, Clark felt something off. Like he wasn't alone watching Lois walk into the house with Chloe by her side. Closing his eyes, he tuned his hearing sharply, finding the source of the feeling.

His ears catch the sound of a steady heartbeat not far from the farm.

Immediately, he races to it.

"You!" Clark says as he watched his enemy turn to him. It was him?

"Well, if it isn't Superman."

Clark's eyes remained focused on Gog, not even trying to figure out how he knew. "I'd ask what you're doing here, but that's pretty much obvious," he says instead.

Gog grinned at his forwardness. "Didn't think there was single sarcastic bone in your body Superman. You surprise me." Not!

"I'm going to give you one last chance. Leave now."

"Just like my parents," he dutifully reminded the people he could've saved but didn't.

"I'm sorry about your parents, but killing an innocent person won't bring them back"

"And you think killing me will bring her back," he smiled ruthlessly at the man responsible for his hate.

Clark balled his hand into a tight fist.

"How did it feel, Superman? How did it feel watching her die?" he taunted. "You felt hate, didn't you. Grief. Vengeance. Revenge!" Gog boldly closed their distance. "How did it feel to become me?"

The closer he came, the weaker Clark began to feel.

"I tried to save them." Weaker, he fell to his knees. "What…" Then he saw it, the Kryptonite he removed from his pocket. How?

Gog tossed the green piece of meteor in the air and back like a baseball. "I can't believe that this little piece of rock will be your death, Superman. Kind of makes this whole thing anti-climactic. Gotta say, I'm seriously disappointed"

"Please!"

Gog squats right in front of him, leaning his ear close. "What? Is that begging? Do I hear 'The Man of Steele' begging for his life?" He reaches into his other pocket to remove a knife, he wanted this done quick.

Gog waves it in front of him, not a even a tiny speck of compassion crossing his eyes.

Clark hangs on with his life.

"I'm going to walk into that house, and I'm going to kill her," he promised, his voice sounding deadly.

Clark could only shake his head, afraid.

"I'm going to drag her limp body right here in front of you just so you could watch her bleed to death"

Anger coursed through Clark like he's never felt before. He needed to save his wife. He has to.

"And then," Gog continued, and in a whisper. "I'm going to _kill_ you once and for all."

SMACK! Gog is thrown flat on his back, the pressure of a bat hitting him straight under the jaw.

"Fat chance!" replied Lois, with a bat wound tightly in her grip.

"Oh my God, Clark!" Chloe runs up to her fallen friend. He groaned in response, the vision of Lois dead enveloping his mind.

"Chlo, get him out of here before this psycho pulls a George Romero on us"

"What about you?"

"I'll cover you"

"No," Clark grumbled, getting back on his feet. He saw the Kryptonite Gog still held in his hand, but it was far enough that he can move.

"Lois, get away from him," he mumbled under his breath.

Lois stood in front of the attacker, anger flaming in her eyes. She went back to the loft to check on Clark when she saw he wasn't there. From his loft window, she could see movement in the far brush, and grabbed Chloe and a bat to investigate.

When she saw Clark on the ground and in pain, she knew what she had to do.

Suddenly the world around them began to look distorted, and for a moment, Lois thought she was going crazy.

"Chloe, what's going on?" she looks around, reality didn't seem real anymore.

"I don't know," she shook her head.

"Gog," Clark weakly answered.

"Who?" Lois repeated.

"ME!" Gog attacks Lois and she spun fast enough to duck under his massive blow that barely hit her.

"Son of a…" Lois jumps on back of him, putting him onto a chokehold, but he threw her over, shifting his weight to his left foot and slamming her down on the ground.

Gog wipes the blood off his chin their earlier introduction.

"Not bad, Mrs. Kent. Not bad at all." He picks her up by the throat, her mind a bit frazzled by his throwing her around a bit and she didn't even hear his earlier remark about being a Kent.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" Clark flew himself to him, at the same time, knocking the Kryptonite away.

Lois collapsed unconscious with Chloe running to her side. She looked back to Clark fighting, the image of him flying towards the man who tried to kill her cousin stapled in her mind.

"This ends NOW!" Clark says strongly, Gog's ability to manipulate time making their surrounding change back to… Metropolis. Clark throws himself and Gog further into the temporal whirlpool, leaving Lois and Chloe behind.

When the two realize they weren't in Smallville anymore, they break apart. "Lois?" Clark's hearing picks up the familiar heartbeat. He was so focused on her that he didn't even catch Gog picking up the Kryptonite and running away, limping.

Clark rushed out of the empty street, speeding home to where the sound remained constant. Before he could reach his front door, he saw her. It was Lois… and him, coming home from a late night cram session at the Planet.

It was the night before his whole world tore apart.

Clark fell to his knees once more. "AH!" he withered silently in pain. He wanted neither of his future selves to see this.

"You made a mistake coming here," he heard barely.

"A mistake indeed," another voice spoke out.

Clark blinked a few times to straighten his line of sight. Gog. And another. Both. Here. And both have Kryptonite on them.

Not good.

"It's too bad you're too weak to kill me," the Gog of the present time taunted. He takes out the knife he was going to use to kill one young Lois Lane, but Superman would definitely suffice. "I'm going to enjoy this"

He attacks but Clark barely moves away, slicing a bit of flesh from his arm. The other Gog moves around and attacks from behind. At that point, everything to Clark went by in slow motion that he was strong enough to duck just in time as both Gog's pierce one another with their own weapon.

Suddenly, everything started to spin and Clark loses consciousness.

_Moments Later_

Clark materializes back in Smallville, waking suddenly to Chloe's yells.

"Clark!"

Clark gets up and speeds to their side.

"Where'd you go?"

Shaking his head and gathering his thoughts. Everything seemed all too fuzzy for him right now. "Doesn't matter." Clark kneels besides Lois.

Chloe feared the worst. "Is she…"

Clark x-rayed Lois's body for any internal injuries. "She's going to be all right," Clark assured her. "A mild concussion and some bruises," he explained relieved.

"What are you talking about, what about that guy?"

"Gone." Clark suddenly begins to feel the effects of the altered timeline. Old and new memories of his life with Lois coming at him in all directions. He smiled, there was still hope.

There was one tiny bit left to do, and he searched his mind for something important. He couldn't bring anything physical with him back in time, so he committed the incantation that brought him back to memory.

"Get her to the hospital as soon as I'm gone," he ordered lightly.

"What about you?" she asks in concern.

"Don't worry about me. My younger self shouldn't remember anything once I'm back to my time"

"How am I going to explain this day to him?" If there was anything else she worried about besides Lois, it was that.

"Think of something." He smiled gratefully to her. "I trust you. I always have, don't forget that." Clark takes one last look at the woman he loves, stroking her cheek and then placing a single kiss on her lips.

It's strange. Clark begins recalling the words that'll bring him home, but truth is, no matter where Lois was, that was his home.

Clark held her in his arms till the end, cradling her like his life depended on it. And he began to recite the incantation.

"_Un tempo per tutto_

_e tutto è il luogo_

_ritornare ciò che è stato mosso_

_attraverso il tempo e lo spazio"_

As soon as he finished, he could already feel the effects taking place. His head fell back and a beam of light exited and entered his body. Chloe sat back completely mesmerized.

In heavy breaths, Clark comes to and looks at his surroundings in confusion.

"Chloe?" He felt he held something in his arms. He looked down and saw that he did hold something – someone. "Lois?" He looked up and stared at Chloe with even more confusion.

"What happened?"

Chloe gulped. "Let's get her to the hospital and I'll explain the best I can"

_Metropolis, 2017_

"LOIS!" he yelled, startled out of bed. His breathing heavy. Erratic.

"Clark, honey are you okay?" Lois sat up and whispered comfortingly to his ear, her left hand on his cheek while her right rubbed the small of his back.

Clark covered his hand on top of hers, feeling her softness against his skin. "Lois?"

Was she really real? Could it had all been just some vivid dream?

"I'm right here," she replied softly. She reached with one hand to the other side, turning on her bed light. She looked at her husband and saw how sad and exhausted he looked. "Shhhh… it was just a dream"

"I thought I lost you," he uttered, his fears still present in his eyes.

Lois wrapped her arms around him, assuring him that she wasn't going anywhere. "If you ever lost me. If I ever left. It would never be by choice," she spoke softly, her arms still wrapped around him.

Touching her. Hearing the rhythmic beating of her heart. Feeling the love in her voice. This was real. It was all real. "I don't ever want to lose you." He held her a little longer, and she let him.

"Sweetheart," he whispered.

"Hmm?" Lois murmured against his shoulder.

"We need a vacation?" It was all just a dream.

She chuckled. "You're on"

A day later, Lois and Clark drove to Smallville, much to the insistence of Clark, and a quick visit to see his parents before going off for a two week vacation on an island in Hawaii.

At the farm, Clark exits the bathroom, almost running into his wife.

"Oops, sorry," he smiled, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before running to his room. He stopped right at the door when he heard Lois laughing. He turns. "What's so funny?"

Lois smiled, recalling an interesting memory.

She shook her head, "Nothing. You just kind of reminded me of the time when you literally ran into me right here in this very spot, pre-dating era." Her face formed a lop-sided smile. "You were so weird that day." Then she disappeared to the bathroom.

Clark stood dumbfounded.

It wasn't a dream.

But he knew some things were meant to be.

Lois and Clark is one of them.

**The End**


End file.
